Read Online Miss Taken by Milly Taiden - Free Book Online

some calls and get back to you.”
    Luke turned to face her. “You’re freezing.”
    Was she? She’d shoved her hands deep into her coat pockets and her face had gone numb a while back. She should have invested in the coat that heated. That’s what Carly suggested one year. With Kira getting cold at the drop of a dime, it was good advice.
    “Maybe a little,” she agreed.
    The snow had gotten into the top of her boots and chilled wetness seeped through her clothes, sending shivers up her spine.
    “We walked a lot. Let’s get back to the cabin. I need to call my mother.”
    She pulled her lip balm out of her pocket and rubbed it over her frozen lips. She wasn’t doing that because he might kiss her. No. Not even a little because of that. She did it because chapped lips sucked. If he happened to kiss her, then she would have kissable lips. Frozen, but kissable.
    They headed back to his cabin without Bastien. “You lived here long?”
    “All my life.”
    She nodded. “It’s really beautiful. I can’t imagine how wonderful it would have been growing up on this mountain. All this room to run and play and have fun. I guess with you being a shifter it was the best place you could be. Do you know who owns this place?”
    “Back into the work mode of trying to buy off the land?” he said, his voice rough with a hint of anger.
    “Sorry. I guess I’m just curious at this point. Peter has been so obsessed with Raging Falls that it makes me want to find out what they think of his offers.”
    Luke shrugged. “They refused them.”
    He had to know the owners, but she understood his need to keep it to himself. Knowing she was part of Rakida didn’t give the man warm fuzzies.
    “When I was a kid, my mom used to say my father’s biggest flaw was his determination.” She huffed out a cold breath. “When he wanted something, you better watch it, there was no ignoring him. Peter is just like that.”
    “What happened to your mother?” he asked, grabbing her arm to help her over a particular large mound of snow covering a broken trunk.
    “She died of cancer,” she said softly. It still hurt to say. She’d been the light of Kira’s life. Always offering her the best advice and only asking for love in return.
    “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I can tell it’s still painful.”
    “Yes,” she agreed. Hurt like a bitch. “When I was little, she loved going camping and saying ‘listen to the outdoors, mi hija .’ She loved how quiet and peaceful everything was.” She couldn’t seem to stop talking. It was the atmosphere. And Luke. His silence made it easier for her to keep going. “I was never into camping.” She laughed.
    “Why not?” He stopped and cupped her face, tugging her head to make her look at him.
    “I’ve never been outdoorsy,” she admitted. “Don’t get me wrong. I walk and hike and love to swim. I mean I keep my curvy ass in the best shape I can, but the whole bug business wasn’t something I was interested in.”
     

 
     
     
     
    SEVENTEEN
     
    Luke saw pain flash through her brown eyes. She smiled, but he knew she hurt at the memory of her parent.
    “Mom loved doing things just with me.” She sighed. “She said I was like her and living with my father would destroy me slowly.”
    “What about your brother? It wouldn’t destroy him as well?”
    “No, it wasn’t that. My father was raised to believe women needed to be taken care of, that they were weaker than men. He raised my brother in the same manner. My mother died when Peter was still a baby. He only remembers my father’s examples of how to treat a woman. Peter and I used to get along when he was little, but then my father slowly drove a wedge between us. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my brother, I just can’t stand being around him for long. My father was a hard man, it was always his way or no way.”
    His chest clenched at her words. The idea that living with her father would hurt Kira in any way angered him.